Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1887-03-09
EoLLowERs OF rng CIRCUS.
The miscellaneous Crowd OF Swindlors
That Followed the Old Timo shows.

train of camp followers, eide show men,
monte sharps, thimble riggcs, short
change operators and miscellaneous scala
wags, which most managers gold licenses
to, to carry on their oper Cons Oh she
grounds hired bN the circg af Some men
advertised privileges for sac, and would
negotiate with three card monte sharps or
anybody else who. proposed to do any
thing to the public short Of murder.
Circus men who remAelber when all
their travelling was dog in wagons tell
queer stories about a certain old time
manager. They do declare that lie sold
the exclusive right of robbing clothes
lines on the route, and agreed TO prevent
anybody else with the show from poach-
ing uron that preserve. To another he
accorded the gains of going under the
seats during the performance and pick
ing up the pocketbooksN handkerchiefs
and other articles dropped by spectators.
1t is said that professional pickpccket
paid him 81, 600 and q percentage for the
right to work the crowd after The show
was cut. The circus man made him
promise on his professional honor not to
tackle anybody around the ticket wagon,
or before the opening of the show, as he
wanted to get his legitimate profit out Of
their pockets first and also give the other
fakirs fair chance. Sometimes this
man got bankrupt in lad season, and
his outfit would be sold by sheriff. The
next year he would start again without
a cent, sell privileges to the fakirs to get
o little capital, buy some old circus prop
erty, patch up show and take to the
road again. He usually found it desir-
able to change tho name Of his circus
and disguise the outfit when going over
a route the second time.
''That was the kind Of thing that hurt
the business and gave circuses generally
a bad name," says an old Snowman.
people got SO that they expected to be
swindled if they went near circus tent.
They never could tell which was the
regular ticket Office, because there were
SO many falzirs selling tickets and giving
short change. That was about the simplest
and most successful way Of swindling
the public, and there were several varia-
tions worked on it. Ono was to double
up bill in pile SO that both ends would
count. Another was to keep 81 note
concealed in the hand ready fer an
emergency, and when somehody landed
up ten the falxir would look It l.. say
he couldn't change o ten, and land Lack
the one which he lad Gcxtc.c,a !. s,.ls.i-
tuted for the ten. The yc; ug. III hav-
ing seen the sleight CT laiG would
pocket the bill without lco'll z I; it in
the crowd, and pass on to tho i.c.t tsckct
stand. He would hand up the Il there,
get his ticket and bcgin ciamcr;ns fer his
change, lie would swear that Ic save
ten and the ticket man. Of ce1afc. Nculd
swear he didn't. Then there void lc
row, and the fakir who atolc Tie ten
wouldn't be in it.
l once saw man 60 UP to ticket
seller four times. hand him so lill each
time and get only 81 change instead Of
the 50, to which he was entitled. After
the last time he said to the fakir: i've
been here four times with SO bills and
you've beaten me out Of So every time.
Now, will you tell me. how you do it!''
The fakir cheerfuIly said he would and
showed the trick. The victim didn't de-
nland his money back. He only wanted
to learn the game in order to play it him.
self, and he considered the information
cheap at So. But that business doesn t
pay in the long run. The shows that en-
courage it and have gang of fakirs
around all the time, finally go to pieces.
The people won't go near them and they
don't draw a good class. No reputable
manager wants his patrons robbed, and
nowadays the most fragrant taking is TO
be found only among the snap Shows
that work the country districts and tho
4, r.
hibit even the selling of lemonade, pea
nuts and song books in the tent, and
there are no privilege men outside. He
finds that it pays to keep bis show clear
of even the suspicion Of falKirs, and the
other showmen are coming around to his
plan.
once knew a circus manager to sell
bogus blind beggar privilege to fakir,
and the fellow collected a pretty good
revenue on the grounds and whacked up
with the manager. But the queerest ar
rangement ever saw was In a show that
travelled by rail, and was a pretty big
concern. One end of the Office car was
fitted up for a ticket window and pay
Office. In the other end was a faro lay
out, and between were couple of poker
rooms. The manager hired an expert old
gambler to deal faro, and that feature of
the show was always running. 1T wasn't
intended to catch the public, though. Tie
circus employees used to draw their pay at
one end of the car, and go around and
blow it in at the other end. Nearly all
gambled, and they couldn't resist tho
temptation Of q coy gannei right under
their noses. Nearly all the salary money
came right back into the treasury; and it
didn't cost the management anything fer
talent except tho salary Of The faro dealer
ard what he could l1oId ont on tho quiet.